The sleepwalker's warning

Chapter 1: The Sleepwalker's Call

Si Mok Hwang sat in his office, staring at the documents sprawled across his desk. For weeks, he had been piecing together the threads of the assemblyman's embezzlement scheme. Late nights, missed meals, and endless meetings with reluctant witnesses had led to this: undeniable proof that Assemblyman Kang Jin-sung, one of the country's most powerful men, was siphoning millions into his private coffers.

The assemblyman had always been untouchable, shielded by the political elite who controlled the justice system like puppeteers. But Si Mok wasn't the kind of prosecutor who backed down. He thrived on the challenge of taking down the untouchable, and today, he was going to prove that no one was above the law.

"Prosecutor Hwang," his assistant's voice crackled through the intercom. "The Chief wants to see you. Now."

Si Mok's brow furrowed. He'd expected pushback from his higher-ups; indicting a man like Kang Jin-sung was sure to rattle some cages. But he wasn't prepared for the peculiar turn his life was about to take.

Si Mok stepped into the Chief Prosecutor's office, where the atmosphere was tense. Chief Prosecutor Min sat behind his desk, his expression carefully neutral. Si Mok knew that look—it was the kind he used when he was about to deliver bad news.

"Sit," Min gestured to the chair opposite him. "We have a new assignment for you."

Si Mok's instincts flared. "What kind of assignment?"

"You're going to Turkey," Min said, handing over a thin file. "There's a slush fund connected to Kang Jin-sung that we need to retrieve. The higher-ups want you to handle this personally."

Si Mok took the file, but his eyes never left Min's face. The suddenness of the assignment, the timing—it all felt wrong. Why Turkey? Why now? The whole thing reeked of something off, but he couldn't refuse a direct order, especially not when it was cloaked in the guise of furthering his case against the assemblyman.

"Why me?" Si Mok asked, his tone sharp. "This isn't my usual kind of job."

"You're the best we've got," Min replied, but there was something guarded in his eyes. "Get it done, and come back in one piece."

The words were supposed to be reassuring, but they felt like a threat.

---

Si Mok arrived in Istanbul after a grueling flight, his mind still churning with questions. As soon as he stepped off the plane, his phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. He hesitated, then clicked play on the audio file attached.

The voice was low and familiar. Assemblyman Kang.

"Send him to Turkey. Make sure he doesn't come back."

Si Mok's blood ran cold. It was all a setup. They hadn't sent him to retrieve funds; they'd sent him to die. He was a loose end that needed cutting, and they had used his own sense of duty to bury him in a foreign land.

His hands trembling with anger, he called the number that had sent the recording. After two rings, a voice answered.

"Who are you?" Si Mok demanded, his voice edged with fury.

There was a pause, then a calm, almost eerie reply: "Sleepwalker."

The line went dead, leaving Si Mok gripping his phone in the middle of the bustling airport, surrounded by strangers. The reality of his situation sank in. Whoever Sleepwalker was, they knew about the assemblyman's plot. But were they friend or foe? A warning or a death sentence?

Si Mok didn't know, but one thing was clear: he couldn't trust anyone, not the assemblyman, not his superiors, and certainly not the faceless voice on the phone. Alone in a foreign country, with a target on his back, Si Mok had only one option—find out who Sleepwalker was, and figure out how to turn the game in his favor.

Si Mok Hwang was no longer just a prosecutor on a mission; he was a man fighting to survive a deadly conspiracy. And the only way out was through.